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Barrel Aged Night at The Doom Saloon

Barrel Aged Night at The Doom Saloon

Now, if any of you know me you know I do not go crazy trying to obtain all of the (extremely overhyped, in my opinion) barrel aged variations of many of the most highly sought after beers on the market. Most times I’m just as satisfied with the base version of the beer and it’s not worth the driving around and giving up some of my favorite New England beer to trade for these, so I generally don’t seek them. That said, barrel aging usually does not detract from the original experience, and there are plenty of beers that are aged in barrels because the style dictates it and they’re presented best when aged in a barrel, like sour/tart farmhouse saisons, lambics, etc. So please, count me in as a fan of barrel aged beer, but understand that comes with its caveats.

It’s been a while since I’ve caught up with Doom Saloon crew, almost a year now since the last sour tasting I attended down there. When I was invited to latest tasting, focused around the aforementioned many variations of barrel aged beers, I knew I needed to make my way down to Doom Saloon to catch up with the guys.

No rhyme or reason to how bottles were opened and I’m totally fine with that (tastings at Chez Fuj are the same).

2011 Block 15 Pappy’s Dark

Against The Grain Kentucky Ryed Chiquen

Hair of the Dog Michael

Rodenbach Caractère Rouge

Kuhnhenn Bourbon Barrel Fourth Dementia

The homemade Apple Pie clocked in a little lower ABV that I expected but tasted phenomenal just the same.

Homemade Apple Pie Moonshine

Cave Dave and Jeff crackin’ open a couple of bottles.

Hair of the Dog Adam from the Wood

Franklin’s Biological Speculation

Night Shift’s Crusader really surprised me. I’m not a huge fan of Belgian DIPAs but the beer is vinous and showcases the white wine barrels very well. We’ve already drank both bottles of our Barrel Society allocation of this and luckily have another two waiting at the brewery.

Night Shift Crusader

Some say the original Parabola is falling off at this point but the bottle we opened Saturday was pretty amazing.

Firestone Walker Parabola Batch 1 (2009)

Firestone Walker Parabola Batch 1 (2009)

I was really happy to finally get a taste of 668 Chardonneighbor of the Beast. It’s one of the few NEBCO beers that has haunted eluded me.

New England Brewing Company Chardonneighbor of the Beast

A few more of the gems we shared that night.

Cigar City Bourbon Barrel Aged Big Sound

Keegan Ales Mother’s Milk – Tuthilltown Bourbon Barrel Aged

Cantillon Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio

Olde Hickory Eiraphiotes

Prairie Artisan Ales Puncheon

Olde Hickory Seven Devils

And of course no Doom Saloon tasting would be complete without a little shenanigans.

Doom Saloon Toast

Ken lighting up a stogie, naturally

Ken and Jeff

Ken and his pooch

Ken and Jeff

And finally, I wasn’t allowed to leave without doing a couple of side by sides: Hill Farmstead’s Madness & Civilization 1 vs Genealogy of the Morals, and Allagash’s FV13 vs Merveilleux.

Hill Farmstead Madness & Civilization / Genealogy of Morals

Allgash FV13 / Merveilleux

All in all another epic tasting at The Doom Saloon. Hoping it isn’t another year until my next one!